The Angels (as in the baseball team)

Stephanie and I are big fans of Angels Baseball, not the strange kinds of fans who paint rooms red, buy red cars, and haven’t missed a game for five years. We like going to a game now and then and watching a few games on TV each week. I think it’s interesting the community that forms around a baseball team and this community grows in times of excitement, like the play-offs. I, like most Angel’s fans, hope that they make it to the fall classic. If not, it’s ok; they’ve had a great season. Every day I check my email to see if I have been selected to purchase World Series tickets, but I have not received an email yet. To end this random blog I have one thing to say, “Let’s go Angels!”

Accept,
John Denton

What should happen to Marc Echo (Vote Now)!

Marc Echo, as you have probably heard, purchased Barry Bonds 756 home run ball and held a vote on what should be done with it. The vote came in and 47% of the voters said the ball should be branded with an asterisk symbol and sent to the baseball hall of fame. It bothers me that Barry Bonds has never tested positive for steroids yet so many people are quick to jump to conclusions. If steroids were the magic homerun pill every high school baseball player trying to get an edge by using steroids would be blasting home runs. Not to mention years of Major Leauge baseball players who used them and never came close to hitting 756 home runs. Why would Marc Echo want to destroy a piece of history by putting an unfair and unearned mark on the ball? Let’s Vote on what should happen to Marc Echo (The poll is located in the top right corner of blog)!

Golf in the rain.

Today I played in a golf tournament with my dad and a few guys from church (as pictured...sorry about the low quality image). We signed up for the tournament a month ago looking forward to supporting a great local ministry and having a fun day of golf. Last month it was 110 degrees for a few days in a row, and if you would have told me we were going to have insane rain and 60 degree temperatures today, on the day of the tournament, I would have laughed. Not even the rain could hold us back from having a good time golfing together. In the end it was a nice day of golf and it will give each one of us a good golf story to tell for the next few years.

Fast Food

Talk like a Pirate Day.

How to talk like a Pirate-

The basics
Pirate lingo is rich and complicated, sort of like a good stew. But if you just want a quick fix, a surface gloss, a "pirate patina," if you will, here are the five basic words that you cannot live without. Master them, and you can face Talk Like a Pirate Day with a smile on your face and a parrot on your shoulder, if that's your thing.

Ahoy! - "Hello!"

Avast! - Stop and give attention. It can be used in a sense of surprise, "Whoa! Get a load of that!" which today makes it more of a "Check it out" or "No way!" or "Get off!"

Aye! - "Why yes, I agree most heartily with everything you just said or did."

Aye aye! - "I'll get right on that sir, as soon as my break is over."

Arrr! - This one is often confused with arrrgh, which is of course the sound you make when you sit on a belaying pin. "Arrr!" can mean, variously, "yes," "I agree," "I'm happy," "My team is going to win it all," and "That was a clever remark you or I just made." And those are just a few of the myriad possibilities of Arrr!

Go out and have fun with this basic introduction on how to talk like a pirate. After all today is ‘Talk like a Pirate Day.’ I have never been one for talking like a pirate but maybe you will enjoy it. Check out this pirate picture of Stephanie and me.

My Grandfather

After my last blog I realize lots of my readers wanted to know more about my grandfathers 94 years of life and not my cousin’s new puppy. My grandfather, Will Denton, is a heroic icon within our family. Up until two years ago he golfed multiple times during the week and was very active. Two years ago he had a major stroke. Sense then, he has suffered many small strokes and is struggling with remembering people and events throughout his life. My grandfather played major league baseball up until World War II. In World War II he liberated Jews from the concentration camps of Germany. After returning from World War II he entered into the fulltime ministry and started a church in Long Beach, California, He pastored the church for the entirety of his ministry. After retiring he started a donut shop in Long Beach and hired many family friends to work there (the donut shop didn’t last long). Three years ago I had the opportunity to return to my grandfather’s home town of Princeton, Indiana and visit the house where he grew up, his high school, and the grave of his parents. My grandfather and I had a fantastic time together on the trip. In Short my grandfather is one of the greatest men I know.

A New Dog

Last night we celebrated my grandfathers 94th birthday. The big news was that my cousins have a new puppy. Pat’s holding it in this picture but I believe that Derek and Reggie are the most excited. There is something about a new dog. I remember when my family went to the pound and picked out our first dog Chelsea. My sister and I both agreed that we would feed and water her every day and take the best care of her. I believe that my parents ended up feeding that dog, picking up after her, and staying up with her when she was barking at night. It was cool to have a dog but I was only four or five so how much could I really do to take care of a dog. The excitement is so much fun, but the week in and week out care is so hard. Sometimes we forget, sometimes we want to go do other things, eventually the excitement goes away, the dog grows up, and the list goes on. Dedicated pet owners have great relationships with their animals and I know that Derek and Reggie are going to have a friend for life in their new little puppy.

blog-worthy?

blog-worthy: When something happens in your day that is worth mentioning on your blog (web log).

John, "I can't believe that just happened. That is totally crazy."

Pat, "Make sure you Blog It."

John, "Ya, that is totally blog-worthy."

Check out this blog-worthy photo (it’s a picture of a picture of a guy I do not know from a camera on display at Costco). Yeah. The words people think of. Today take a few seconds to make up a word and post it to an online dictionary (good luck on finding a word that someone hasn’t already thought of). I thought of this word but went online and found the exact definition I was thinking of already posted… Here is a good sentence for the word blog-worthy: Today nothing blog-worthy happened so I posted this strange definition.

Ha Ha Ha

Ok. The sign I posted was legit. A few minutes later I received this via AIM from my cousin Philip.

Hmm... (Church Sign)

The things you see while driving. When I saw this I had to put my life at risk to snap a cell phone photo (Ok, I was the passenger but it was still a pretty risky move).

“They grow up so fast.”

I never thought I would find myself saying it, but here I am. “They grow up so fast.” Steven was the kid in the youth group I could always count on. If I needed extra support for an event, a thought out answer to a question during a gathering, or a good laugh, I always knew that I could turn to Steven. I have been able to work with Steve for the last four years and it has been a blast. He is the poster boy for how we would like students to be brought up through are student ministries and Christian education department. Yes there have been some hard times but they are far outweighed by the great times to even think about. I had the opportunity to attend Steven’s high school graduation and it was moving to see that once punky freshman who loved ninja turtles and video games walk across the stage and receive his high school diploma (he still loves ninja turtles and video games). A few weeks later I went to Steve’s work and had an ice cream, and checked out his place of employment (as pictured). Over the summer Steve and I spent time talking about college plans and what his goals are for the future. This last week I have been thinking about Steve as he steps into the unknown world of college. My prayer every day is that Steve will succeed in college and make a difference at his school and in the world today. I feel so blessed to get to share in the lives of students like Steve.

Accept,
John Denton

Class.

I recently started school. This semester is my last semester. In the last week I have spent more time in a class room than I have my entire college career. As pictured I have been surviving on snacks and energy drinks. I can’t wait to be done with school but at the same time I am nervous about life without it. Change is sometimes strange, even a long awaited positive change like graduating from college can be a hard transition. I am excited and nervous at the same time. Regardless, right now I am trying to focus on my classes.

Accept,
John Denton

Oh Man (iPod Touch)

I haven’t wanted or bought an expensive unnecessary item for a few months. The iPhone was cool but the monthly Cingular bill made me think twice about buying it. The iPod Touch starts at $299 and will be able to access the internet via Wi-Fi hotspots, plus it has most of the same features the iPhone does, just without the headaches of having a Cingular cell phone. September 28th (release of the iPod Touch) is going to be a great day, because it is going to put everything I love about my computer into my pocket; music, movies, and the internet. If only the iPod touch had AIM and Skype capabilities. I like where apple is going with this!

Labor Day

Rap About John

RAP ABOUT JOHN:
Our youth pastor is John
He likes to mow the lawn

He acts like a monkey
and he smells kinda funky


He eats mozzarella sticks
and likes to play in cricks

He always rides his bike
but dont ask him to take a hike

because he will reject you
thats what he likes to do

reject you
he will reject you
wiki wiki what? WORD.

-Amanda

After a long hike at summer camp and Amanda having too much time on her hands this little slice of poetry was created by Amanda and friends (as pictured). Read it to the beat of your favorite hip-hop track and there you have it, a camp masterpiece. For the record book if anyone asked me to go on a hike with him or her I would reject them, that hike at camp was crazy and made me remember why I am not an avid hiker.

Accept,
John Denton